Bruce Springsteen releases ’96 Ashbury Park live performance of Shut Out The Light
The hometown gig was the perfect venue for The Boss to play the Born In The USA B-side.
Bruce Springsteen has released a live performance of Shut Out The Light from a 1996 Asbury Park concert. The 24 November 1996 show was part of The Boss’ acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad tour, which featured notable guests like Patti Scialfa, Danny Federici and Soozie Tyrell.
Not counting a gig in Akron, Ohio which took place two months prior, the last time Shut out the Light, the B-side to Born In The U.S.A., was played live was in 1985. It was accompanied by other early favourites that The Boss also hadn’t played on tour until that point, including Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), Wild Billy’s Circus Story and 4th Of July, Ashbury Park.
“I was about 18 and I first started to come out to Asbury Park in 1968,” Springsteen told the crowd before playing 4th Of July. “I really found friendships here that lasted me my whole life. I met my wife here in a bar and I got a chance to see my kids running around the theatre tonight, so that sort of brings it all ’round a full circle.”
“I’m glad to be able to come back to town and to be able to play here in this theatre. It’s a treat for me,” he concluded.
Springsteen has yet to announce any tour dates for next year, although he has expressed a desire to release a new album with the E Street Band and subsequently tour behind it. The benefit show Stand up for Heroes, which took place earlier this week, and The Concert for the Rainforest Fund in December make up the remainder of his performances for 2019.
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